Matt Birney

Latitude Consolidated has struck wide gold mineralisation at its Circle Valley project within the Albany-Fraser mobile belt that hosts the multi-million-ounce Tropicana gold deposit. Multi-element analysis from end of hole sampling has highlighted a suite of pathfinder elements that the company says bear a striking resemblance to the geochemistry that led to the discovery of the behemoth Tropicana deposit.

Venture Minerals could be gearing up for a cracking end of year after market darling and JV partner Chalice Mining revived a previously paused EM survey on its “Julimar lookalike” target at the duo’s South West nickel-copper-PGE project about 240 kilometres south of Perth. The survey will focus on Venture’s Thor target, a 20km long magnetic anomaly that has drawn comparisons with Chalice’s revered Julimar discovery.

Mining focused software-as-a-service provider, K2fly has extended a pre-existing contract for its ‘RCubed Resource & Reserves Solution’ platform with global mining giant, Glencore Canada by three years. The agreement is set to contribute A$443,000 in total contract value and A$130,00 in annual recurring revenue to K2fly’s coffers, with Glencore to use the product for its global zinc operations at 56 sites across seven countries.

Perth-based Comet Resources looks on track to carve itself a healthy-sized slice of the lucrative downstream graphite pie after inductively coupled plasma or “ICP” assay testing of its natural flak

Aldoro Resources has planned a rock chip sampling program targeting high-interest lithium and rubidium pegmatites, following up some exciting previous rock chip samples at its Wyemandoo project approximately 80 kilometres southeast of Mount Magnet in WA. Previously reported grades included a rock chip grading a respectable 2.6 per cent lithium and 1.7 per cent rubidium.

Technology Metals Australia has delivered an impressive 32 per cent increase to its Yarrabubba vanadium pentoxide resource at its Murchison Technology Metals Project in WA, including a cracking 110 per cent lift in the indicated resource component. The company’s resource base at the project now clocks in at a whopping 146.2 million tonnes grading 0.8 per cent vanadium pentoxide.

ASX-listed Brightstar Resources continues to deliver stellar results with significant shallow gold intercepts in addition to unexpected nickel hits at its flagship Cork Tree Well prospect near Laverton in WA. The latest strikes include 12m going 4.25 g/t gold from 131m downhole and unexpected nickel sulphide hits including a 1m interval going 1.6 per cent nickel from 41m and 1.99 per cent nickel from 61m.

Si6 Metals has generated multiple high-priority drill targets from a geophysical AMT survey across the Dibete, Airstrip and Maibele North prospects at its Maibele base metals project in Botswana. Results delivered from the Dibete prospect pointed to numerous untested anomalies that lie along strike and underneath known mineralisation consistent with a “Messina Copper” style mineralisation.

CZR Resources has appointed experienced geologist Stefan Murphy as its new Managing Director. Murphy was most recently the CEO of Northern Territory iron ore developer Nathan River Resources.

ASX-listed precious and base metals explorer, Godolphin Resources could be in line for a busy end of year after receiving encouraging assay results from a recent Quarry Lode RC drilling program at its Lewis Ponds Project in NSW. The company says it has identified zones of gold, silver and base metals mineralisation in four holes.

Perth-based Okapi Resources has entered into an agreement with Canada’s ALX Resources to acquire a portfolio of six advanced exploration projects in the Athabasca Basin - the world’s premier uranium district. The projects include 75 granted mineral claims covering an impressive 55,000 hectares. Okapi will initially focus on the Cluff Lake and Newnham Lake projects where it will target high-grade unconformity-related uranium deposits.

Newfield Resources has locked in just shy of $25m from 71m shares issued as part of a rights issue at 35c to advance its Tongo diamond project in Sierra Leone. The company’s share price traded as high as 47c during intraday trading today and it will look to place the shortfall at the original price of 35c with a view to banking another $25m.

Junior explorer Kula Gold has locked onto a new gold prospect known as “G-Star” at its Marvel Loch-Airfield project in the prolific Southern Cross goldfields in Western Australia. First pass auger drilling has revealed a gold anomaly striking over 2.2km which remains open to the northwest. Follow up sampling was completed during October with samples awaiting assay.

ASX-listed Calidus Resources maiden diamond drilling program at its recently acquired Blue Spec deposit has hit pay dirt returning 4.1m at 33.6 g/t gold including 1.1m at a whopping 100.7 g/t gold. The high-grade satellite gold resource is located 75 km’s from Calidus’ Warrawoona project in WA’s prolific Pilbara goldfield. Geotechnical and metallurgical test work is underway as the company works towards finalising a definitive feasibility study.

Barton Gold has discovered a 650 metre long shallow gold zone at its Tunkillia project in South Australia just three kilometres northeast of its 223 deposit that hosts a formidable 965,000 ounce gold resource. The newly coined “Area 191” prospect gave up a bundle of shallow hits in recent drilling including 3m going 3.45 grams per tonne gold from 55m and 1m grading 69.6 g/t gold from 68m.

Aldoro Resources has intersected the single thickest massive sulphide zone to date at its VC1 prospect within the Narndee Igneous Complex project located 90 kilometres south-southwest of Mount Magnet in WA. The 15.65 metre long hit included a 3.8m massive sulphide interval that broke into the footwall sequence that hosts favourable conditions for significant accumulations of nickel-copper sulphides, according to the company.

Empire Energy has commenced drilling a highly anticipated oil well in the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin. The Carpentaria 2H well will test for oil in the Velkerri shales 200m downdip from Carpentaria 1. Carpentaria 2H is located 11km north of the Carpentaria 1 discovery well and will be drilled to 1,800 metres before turning south and drilling horizontally for one kilometre along the world-class oil rich Velkerri shales.

Mineral exploration company Legend Mining has launched a 3D seismic survey aimed at uncovering deeper drill targets at its exciting Mawson nickel, copper and cobalt discovery in the Fraser Range of Western Australia. Previous drilling at Mawson returned an assortment of serious nickel and copper hits including 31.1 metres at 2.80 per cent nickel and 2.04 per cent copper from 200.7m depth.

Canadian listed Novo Resources said it has identified multiple untested magnetic anomalies comparable to the gold-bearing intrusions at De Grey Mining’s extraordinary nine-million-ounce Hemi gold discovery. The new targets have been etched out of the northern sector of Novo’s 100 per cent owned Egina project in the West Australian Pilbara Craton. They were identified through a detailed aeromagnetic interpretation in conjunction with extensive soil sampling.

Manganese producer, Element 25 says a new shipping strategy will deliver a freight tariff reduction of 45 per cent from peak tariff rates for an upcoming shipment of manganese concentrate sourced from its Butcherbird mine in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The company will now transport its manganese concentrate in a larger capacity Supramax vessel to lower the shipping costs.

Legend Mining appears to be on the cusp of a new nickel-copper discovery at its Rockford project in WA’s rich Fraser Range base metals province. Diamond drilling has intersected nearly ten meters of nickel-copper rich sulphides at the Northerly prospect in a mafic-ultramafic intrusion that is akin to the known fertile intrusions that host the revered Nova-Bollinger and Silver Knight deposits.

Soil sampling by WA explorer Kairos Minerals has outlined two high-priority lithium targets at the company’s Wodgina project in the Pilbara. One target stretches for a lengthy 1.7km and is supported by a nearby historical sample that returned 1.6 per cent lithium oxide. The project lies less than 3km from the “world class” Wodgina lithium deposit.

Mineral explorer Valor Resources continues to deliver the goods at its Picha copper and silver project in southern Peru. Recent channel sampling by the company at two separate areas has returned a 40.5 metre long surface channel grading 0.49 per cent copper at its Cumbre Coya prospect, with a 17.6m channel going 1.95 per cent copper also unearthed at the Maricate prospect some 500m away.

DiscovEx Resources has unveiled a series of potential walk-up drill targets across two of its gold projects in the mineral-rich Yilgarn Craton in WA. Soil geochemical sampling at its Edjudina project near Kalgoorlie has unearthed a suite of compelling drill targets, whilst auger drilling at the Newington project, some 65km from Southern Cross, has identified potential extensions to the Newfield Central and Dawsons high-grade quartz lodes.

Wiluna Mining Corporation’s massive development program at its namesake WA gold operation looks set to continue bringing home the bacon with drilling over the Happy Jack and East Lode areas delivering a symphony of high-grade gold intersections. Notable results included 3.72 metres grading 5.31 grams per tonne gold at the former and 7.75m going 13.27 g/t gold at the latter.

In the final stretch of a long race to reach a coveted cup, ASX-listed Buru Energy has encountered hydrocarbons above the targeted Ungani Dolomite at Rafael 1 in the oil-rich Canning Basin of northern Western Australia. With the well at 3,872m and a finish line of 4,000m the board and investors are keenly awaiting the news to come.

Horizon Minerals has increased the mineral resource estimate at its recently acquired and well-advanced Cannon gold project, located a short trucking distance from the company’s flagship Boorara gold project on the south east fringes of Kalgoorlie. The mineral resource review was conducted independently and upgraded the current estimate by over 8,000 ounces gold to 32,070 ounces grading an impressive 4.29 grams per tonne gold.

ASX-listed, King River Resources has upped the ante in its push to produce high value aluminium precursor compounds used in lithium-ion batteries. Laboratory test work on the company’s already developed 5N purity Type 1 precursor has now added to King River’s repertoire of products with development of a Type 2 precursor - an aluminium compound for use in lithium-ion battery cathodes.

Barton Gold has discovered a new 800m long gold lode at its Tunkillia gold project in South Australia. First assay results from the phase 1 drilling program have confirmed a significant shallow gold zone located approximately 500m northwest of the main 223 deposit. The new 223 North discovery extends the total mineralised strike at Tunkillia by around 30 per cent to 3.3km.

Quantum Graphite has racked up a slew of solid graphite hits at its Uley 2 and Uley 3 prospects in South Australia. Noteworthy grades include 7.9 metres grading 10.8 per cent total graphitic content from 36.9m, a 14.2m intercept going 8.0 per cent total graphitic content from 62.8m downhole and 17.9m grading 6.6 per cent total graphitic content from 34.7m.

Comet Resources could be about to dust off the maracas after assays from an eight-hole, 2,250 metre drilling program completed at its Santa Teresa Gold project in Mexico delivered a suite of high-grade gold hits which included “bonanza” grades. Some of the better intersections included 1.2 metres grading 63.2 grams per tonne gold from 124.8m.

Zuleika Gold has revived its 2021 drilling program at its flagship Zuleika and Credo projects near Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, targeting a series of priority prospects with over 8,000 metres of aircore and RC drilling. The company says the campaign is aimed at following up strong scores from previous drilling where results included an 11m hit going 1.3 grams per tonne gold from 40m.